Do you think it is a good strategy to have a two save guys and two good mid relief guys like Dotel and Santana? My league allows 9 pitchers and is 5x5. I am midpack in wins and thinking of dropping Marte for Santana giving me Gagne, Looper, Dotel, and Santana. I think it is more important to have low whip-era guys and sacrifice wins. I will still get the k's from Dotel and Santana just not that many wins or saves. I am not saying tank wins just work more on the other 4 categories...any thoughts would be appreciated

Your also partially tanking saves. Your gonna get a lot with Gagne and maybe substantial saves from Looper if he stays on track. Depending on how many closers other people have you might finish slightly above middle of the pack. You won't be punting wins as much as you think because Dotel and Santana will combine to get you about 15 but you will slightly.

I actually have a low tolerance for high priced closers. I have Looper, Carter, and Herges. I also have Santana and Shields for middle relief. I traded Percival in a "too good to pass up" deal and ended up with no premier closers. I don't care though.

It's hard to say. The bottom line is to have balance. If I were to speculate, and it is pure speculation, I would say a perfect group of pitchers would be 2 top 10 starters, 1 top 20 starter, 2 stud middle relievers for the K's, ERA, and WHIP, 1 premier closer and 2 lesser closers that you didn't draft (grab em when they crop up). If you can get that your golden.

Oh ya and one more thing. Santana will probably become a starter IMHO by the All Star break.

Good analysis chiggidy, that was my post but I forgot to login. It is my first season in a 5x5 league and I actually drafted thinking I was in a h2h league-oops. I guess dumb luck prevailed as I am in first place. I loaded up on hitters with power, speed, and avg. i.e. Giles, Sheffield, Soriano and paid less attention to pitching figuring I could nab some sleepers. Anyway, what it boils down to is I am trying to craft a low whip/ low era , high k pen. I would like to nab santana to go with dotel, gagne, and looper as my relief guys but I would have to drop marte for santana - should I do it?